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To Wear or Not To Wear Black?

Trends come and go and we find ourselves at times wearing flashy colors, floral designs, stars or colored lace, but what has never changed is the fact that behind these trends there is always an everlasting underlying trend: Black!

I always wondered how can one color be the color of the priest, the Nazis, the fascists, the punks, the chubby, anorexics, judges and suicide bombers. It serves so many duties in very different fields… But why is that and what does it imply?

Little Facts about Black: Black is an absence of colors and attracts all the colors whereas white reflects them all. Black gives you silhouette, colors give you surface.

On the one hand, the anti-black wearers defend the idea that it is the lazy shortcut for the boring stylish who are trying to hide something. Some also believe those who wear too often black have a secret jealousy towards men and the freedom they have. (The latter’s are not expected to have a different look everyday and are not as much judged by appearances.) They also note that those who wear a lot of black often have khaki, dusty greens or beige accessories. These are camouflage colors and again show a need to hide something or simply a small lack of confidence.

On the other hand, black-lovers say it’s easy, practical for work and elegant for parties. Today black has been associated with glamour rather than gloominess. It’s for those who want to emphasize their own individuality since black isolates the face from the rest of the body. For them, and as mentioned in an old American Vogue, Coco Chanel’s little black dress is “the uniform for all women of taste”.

There were many studies and articles written about black wearer but I guess getting to one proper conclusion is not that evident after all. I guess each one has an underground reason to wear this (none) color. I just hope it will never be for funerals of loved ones.